Oct. 4, 1999
Clemson, S.C. – James F. Barker, a Clemson University graduate and dean of the University’s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, has been named Clemson’s 14th president.
Barker, 52, was selected by the Board of Trustees Monday to success Deno Curris, who resigned to accept a position as president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
“Jim Barker is a highly regarded and visionary teacher, scholar and administrator who understands the mission, culture and potential of Clemson University. He emerged from a pool of very strong and capable candidates as the person best suited to lead Clemson into the 21st century,” said Lawrence Gressette, chairman of the Board.
Barker earned his bachelor of architecture degree from Clemson and his master of architecture and urban design degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Before coming to Clemson in 1986 to serve as dean of the College of Architecture, he was dean of the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University.
He is a recipient of the National Distinguished Professor Award of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and served as president of that association. Barker was named Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture. He also has been a partner in an architectural practice.
At Clemson, Barker co-founded the S.C. Design Arts Partnership to support community design outreach projects, initiated the Charleston Architecture Center, and established the University’s “Arts in April” program. In 1995, he became dean of the new College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, which was created after a comprehensive reorganization and has received national attention as a new model in education.
JAMES F. BARKER, FAIA
Married 52 years of age Two children ADMINISTRATION
1995 — present
Dean, College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, Clemson University A new college created after a comprehensive reorganization of Clemson University in 1995.
1986 — 1995 Dean, College of Architecture, Clemson University
1994 — 1995 Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Clemson University Served as Interim Dean while also serving as Dean of the College of Architecture.
1984 — 1986 Dean, School of Architecture, Mississippi State University
1979 — 1984 Associate Dean, School of Architecture, Mississippi State University. General administrative responsibility, established graduate program and Center for Small Town Research and Design.
1977 — 1979 Director of Instruction, School of Architecture, Mississippi State University. Administration of all academic courses taught in the School of Architecture, and the co-planner of the state’s first architectural curriculum.
EDUCATION
1970 Master of Architecture and Urban Design, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.
Bachelor of Architecture, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.
TEACHING
1986 — present Professor, College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, School of Architecture, Clemson University. Currently teaching a multidisciplinary course on the nature and character of the American Small Town.
1986 Professor, School of Architecture, Mississippi State University.
Visiting Associate, Martin Center and Department of Architecture, Cambridge University, England. Visiting critic at fifth year design level.
1977 Associate Professor, School of Architecture, Mississippi State University. Member of first faculty to begin a new School of Architecture in Mississippi’.
1973 — 1974 Assistant Professor, School of Architecture. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee. Vertical studio design critic involving second year through fifth year design students.
1972 — 1973 Teaching Assistant, School of Architecture, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. Teaching architectural design studio at third and fourth year level.
SERVICE TO CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
1994 — 1995 Task Forces an University Organization, member of three University-wide task forces to plan the administrative and academic structure for the future of Clemson University.
1997 — 1996 University Strategic Planning Committee, Founding member and on-going service as committee member.
1993 — 1994 College of Agriculture/Strategic Planning Committee, one year service to develop a plan for the future of the College of Agriculture.
1992 — 1994 Athletic Council, Appointed by the President to serve on this academic based council which overseas all aspects of athletics.
1991 Provost Search Committee, Committee member to search, screen, and recruit Clemson University’s Provost/Academic Vice President.
1989 — 1996 Facilities Planning Committee, A committee charged with providing advice to the President on campus development and empowered to involve the campus community in decision making regarding campus facilities and physical development.
1992 — 1993 Campus Master Plan Committee, A committee to guide the activities of the professional master planning firm preparing a ten-year plan for campus development.
1989 — present Forum Club, Elected by the faculty to this 60 year old interdisciplinary group, established to present, formulate, and discuss ideas.
PROFESSIONAL
1998 — present Design Consultant, Enwright Associates, Greenville, SC
1996 — 1998 Design Consultant, Mars Hill College and Town of Mars Hill, NC
1986 — 1998 Design Consultant, Odell Associates, Charlotte, NC
1986 — 1992 Urban Design Consultant, City of Jacksonville, FL
1977 — 1986 Principal, James F. Barker, AIA, Architect, Starkville, Mississippi. Commissions included:
Chi Omega Sorority House, a 12,000 sq. ft. home for the first sorority on the Mississippi State University campus. Project completed and occupied (with Wakeman, Shafer, Fazio).
Eagles Peak Ski Resort, master plan of 300 acres in the Sierra Mountains of California and design of ski lodge. Project completed through schematics.
Starkville Middle School Renovation, a reuse design for a 1930’s school in the historic district for offices and city library. Project completed and occupied (with Shafer).
Varsity Square, an 80,000 sq. ft. commercial development near the Mississippi State University campus. Project completed through schematics. 3000 sq. ft. completed and occupied.
Hutcherson Habitat, a 3,200 sq. ft. residence for a family of four, Starkville, Mississippi. Project completed and occupied.
1974 — 1977 Partner, Barker and Ruth, Architects, Starkville, Mississippi. Commissions included:
Forestry Resource Appreciation Center, a 40,000 sq. ft. facility located on a 15 acre lake to include the functions of auditorium, seminar, dining, and housing. Project completed through schematic design.
Drake Habitat, a 2,500 sq. ft. single family residence in Batesville, Mississippi. Project completed and occupied. Awarded an AIA Design Award in Mississippi in 1976.
Smith Law Office, a 1,400 sq. ft. private law firm in Batesville, Mississippi. Project completed and occupied. Awarded an AIA Gulf States Region Design Award 1977.
Recreation Master Plan, Mississippi State University, a ten-year plan for all phases of recreation at Mississippi State University.
Phillips Habitat, a 1,500 sq. ft. renovation of a typical subdivision house, Starkville, Mississippi. Project completed and occupied.
Multi-use complex, a 600 dwelling unit complex of housing, commercial, and recreation for university students in Starkville,
Mississippi. Project completed through schematics. Prototype Branch Bank, a 7,000 sq. ft. building system for several sites, designed in three major phases. Hancock Bank, Gulfport,Mississippi. Project completed through schematics. Teters Habitat, a 3,600 sq. ft. residence with unique program requirements, Starkville, Mississippi. Project completed through working drawings. Trinity Presbyterian Church, a 6,700 sq. ft. place of worship for a young congregation, Starkville, Mississippi. Project completed and occupied. Awarded an AIA Design Award in Mississippi in 1980. Architect, James F, Barker. Residence for Mr. and Mrs. George Ainslie, Kingsport, Tennessee. Project completed and occupied. Associate Designer, McCarty, Bullock, Church, Holesaple Architects and Planners, Knoxville, Tennessee. Project: Redevelopment of downtown Oak Ridge Shopping Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Project completed through schematics.
1972 Project Designer, Stevens and Wilkinson, Architects and Planners, Atlanta, Georgia. Project: Chapel and activities center for Baptist Village, a retirement community in Waycross, Georgia. Project completed and occupied. Awarded an AIA Design Award for Mid-Atlantic Region in 1974.
1971 — 1972 Project Designer, Stevens and Wilkinson, Architects and Planners, Atlanta, Georgia. Project: Retail Services Center for Sears, Roebuck and Company in Greensboro, North Carolina. Project completed and occupied.
ARCHITECTURAL REGISTRATION
South Carolina, Mississippi (through 1987), Tennessee (through 1987), NCARB Certification
ELECTED AND APPOINTED PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
National Visitation Team Member, American Society of Landscape Architects, Board of Accreditation
1991 — 1994 President-Elect, President, Past President, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, elected by 3,000 faculty members and I IO member schools.
Chair, Challenge Grant 11 Panel, National Endowment for the Arts.
1991 — 1992 Member, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Education Committee.
1990 — 1991 Member, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Procedures and Documents Committee.
1988 — 1991 National Board Member, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
1989 — 1990 Member, American Institute of Architects National Convention Planning Committee for the Washington, DC Convention in 1990.
1989 — 1990 Member, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Education Committee.
1989 — 1990 Member, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Education Committee
1989 Member, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Professional Conduct Committee.
Design Communication Panelist, 1987 Grant Awards, National Endowment for the Arts.
1984 — present Visitation Team Chairman and Member, National Architectural Accreditation Board, eight school visits (chaired three visits).
1984 — 1987 Editorial Board Member, Journal of Architectural Education.
1982 — 1987 Steering Committee Member, National AIA Committee on Urban Design and Planning.
1986 Consultant, Federal Office of Management and Budget, Advised on design positions in the federal government. Regional Southern Design Arts Task Force, Southern Arts Federation.
1988 — 1991 Southeast Regional Director, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
1986 — 1988 Southeast Regional Coordinator, National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Program.
Program Chair, 25 th Annual Gulf States Regional AIA convention.
State
1991 -present Board Member, Paimefto Trust for Historic Preservation. Founding Board Member for this Historic Preservation Trust.
1986 — present Board Member, South Carolina Downtown Development Association, A program to revitalize communities and their central districts.
1986 — present Board Member, South Carolina Board of Architectural Examiners (3) years as Vice Chair. Appointed by the Governor of South Carolina.
1984 — 1986 Board of Trustees Member and Co-founder, Mississippi Architectural Foundation.
1984 — 1986 Board Member, Licensing Board for Architecture and Landscape Architecture, State of Mississippi.
1983 — 1984 Chair, Academic Department Heads, Mississippi State University.
1983 — 1985 Board Member, Mississippi Main Street Program. A program to revitalize small town downtowns.
Local
1987 — present Secretary-Treasurer and Member, Clemson Advancement Foundation for Design and Building Board of Trustees.
1982 — 1986 Commissioner, Starkville Planning Commission, Starkville, Mississippi.
DESIGN AWARD JURIES
National Juror, National Competition for Clemson University Performing Arts Center. Jury Chair, West Virginia Society of Architects AIA Design Awards Program Jury Chair, Tennessee Society of Architects, AIA Design Awards Program. Juror, American Society of Landscape Architects, National Design Awards Competition Local Jury Chair, Honor Awards, Charlotte AIA Section (North Carolina). Jury Chair, Honor Awards, Hilton Head AIA Section (South Carolina). Juror, Honor Awards, Mobile AIA Chapter (Alabama)
RESEARCH
1994 — present Co-founder of the South Carolina Design Arts Partnership, linking support from the South Carolina Arts Commission, South Carolina Downtown Development Association, and Clemson University Outreach in support of a design studio utilizing students and faculty to solve real world problems in South Carolina communities.
1987 — 1995 Established a structure for encouraging and administering research and public service in the College of Architecture, including faculty incentive and support. Also established two new degree programs (Master of Science in Architecture and Master of Construction Science and Management) to give academic structure to graduate level research.
1977 — 1986 Responsible for administration and direction of all architectural research in the School of Architecture and the Center for Small Town Research and Design, Mississippi State University.
Individual Research Projects Include: A study of Small Towns of the American West, project supported by Utah State University and Clemson University.
National Endowment for the Arts Grant. Project director, planning for small town growth using Madison, Mississippi, as a case study.
Community Development Block Grant Program Grant, Project Director for design of statewide guidelines for building rehabilitation to replace H.U.D. standards.
National Endowment for the Humanities, Mississippi Committee for the Humanities Grant. Project Director for “A Chautauqua in Mississippi/Tradition and Change in the American Small Town.”
1981 — 1982 Sponsored Research Project conducted at the Martin Centre, Cambridge University, England, on the design of the English Village and its evolution into the American Small Town.
National Endowment for the Humanities/Mississippi Committee for the Humanities Grant. Project director of “A Chautauqua in Mississippi/Order and Image in the American Small Town.”
1978 National Endowment for the Arts Livable Cities Grant to study specialized methodologies relating to small town design and prepare a handbook for small town design.
National Endowment for the Arts Grant, “Circuit Rider’to solve community design problems utilizing the resources of the School of Architecture, Mississippi State University.
National Endowment for the Arts Individual Grant to study small town images and methods to improve these images.
PUBLICATIONS: (BY BARKER) “Small Towns of the American West” (in process).
“The Courthouse Square”, Architecture California, January/February 1987, Vol. 9, No. 1.
“The Courthouse Square in the Development of American Urbanism”, South Carolina Business Journal, March 1987, Vol. V, No. 2.
“The English Village Green/The American Courthouse Square” Place Magazine, September, 1983 issue.
1981 The Small Town Designbook (with M. Buono and H. Hildebrandt). A handbook for small town design utilizing both physical and social mapping. A Center for Small Town Research and Design publication.
“I Never Lock My Door When I Go Out.” Precedences Small Cities Conference, 1980. University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. Edited by Wolensky and Miller.
“The American Small Town — Its Order and Image,” Introduction to Fall, 1980 Issue of Southern Quarterly/A Journal of Arts in the South.
“Designing for A Sense of Place in Southern Small Towns,” Southern Quarterly/ Journal of Arts in the South. Fall, 1979 issue.
Sense of Place Mississippi. Edited by Prenshaw an McKee, University Press of Mississippi. Contribution of article on Small Towns.
The Small Town as an Art Object (with M. Fazio and H. Hildebrandt). Marketed by Whittenborn, Inc., New York, New York, 1976. A book on the small town and its image. A Center for Small Town Research and Design Publication.
Architectural Record, Editorial, “Breaking the Silence” by Robert A. Ivy Jr., FAIA, July 1998, p. 7.
Architecture. “As It Stands, A School in Balance: Clemson’s Architecture Program Keeps a Strong Core,” by Robert A. Ivy, Jr., AIA, August 1989, Vol. 78, No. 5, pp. 42-49. Newsweek: On Campus. “The Grand Designers: Architecture — The True Battleground of the Spirit — Is Thriving”, by Connie Leslie, April 1984, pp. 22-24. Architecture. “Mississippi State: A Small Town Focus/Strengths Drawn From Limitations”, by Robert A. Ivy, Jr., AIA, August 1984, Vol. 78, No. 3, pp. 46-51
GUEST LECTURES
International
1998 St. Petersburg, Russia, Lecture on “Architectural Education and Reality — An American Perspective.” Tokyo, Japan, Lecture on Architectural Accreditation in the United States
Delft, Holland, Lecture on Architectural Education in the United States. Prague, Czech Republic, Lecture on International Education
Paris, France. Chair, International Panel of Educators, “The Relationship Between Architectural Education and Practice.”
1983 Plymouth Polytechnic, England. A 5-part lecture series on American Architecture, the English Village and the American Small Town. Cambridge University, England. A 3-part lecture series on Post Modern Architecture and the American Small Town. National California Council of American Institute of Architects Design Conference,
Monterey, CA. A single lecture on the American Small Town and Suburb. California Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA. A single lecture on the American Small Town and the English Village. Iowa State University, a single lecture on the Role of Design Colleges in Community Development. National American Institute of Architects Convention, San Francisco. Member of Panel to discuss relationship between education and the profession of architecture. Miami University. A single lecture on my professional projects and the Center for Small Town Research and Design.
1981 University of Oklahoma. A single lecture on the Center for Small Town Research and Design.
University of South West Louisiana. A single lecture on the American Small Town.
Regional
1990 Children’s Literature Symposium, Clemson University. Keynote Speaker, “The Work of Chris Van Allsburg — Between Reality and Fantasy.”
1984 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. A single lecture on the English Village and the American Small Town. Auburn University. A single lecture “The English Village/The American Small Town.” University of Tennessee. A single lecture on my professional projects and research. Columbia Design League of Small Towns of the American West”. A single lecture on research conducted in summer 1998.
1993 South Carolina Arts Commission, Greenville, SC. Keynote lecture, “Good Design Is Good Business” Conference. South Carolina Downtown Development Association, Columbia, SC. Keynote address to annual conference, “The Southern Small Town.” Urban Land Institute, Columbia, SC. A lecture and panel discussion on the urban environment.
PAPERS “Genius Loci and the American Small Town,” a paper presented to the national American Institute of Architects Education Committee Conference, Montreal, Quebec. “Becoming a Player on the Campus — Adding Value to the University Setting.” ACSA Administrators Conference, Phoenix, AR. “The American Courthouse Square,” a paper presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. “The Relationship Between Attitude and Place in the American Small Town,” a paper presented at “Beyond 1984” Humanities Conference, Jackson Mississippi. Sponsored by the Mississippi Committee for the Humanities. “The Beginning Student in Architecture,” Program Chairman, Association Collegiate Schools of Architecture Meeting in Monterey, California.
1978 “Designing for a Sense of Place in Mississippi Small Towns.” A paper presented at “The Symposium on a Sense of Place and Public Policy” at the University of Southern Mississippi. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
AWARDS
National Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture/National Distinguished Professor
Selected for advancement into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (an award given to only three percent of members of the Institute)
1988 ACSA Citation for Service
Special Recognition Award, National Endowment for the Arts (The Small Town as an Art Object). A program to honor the outstanding research projects of the Endowment’s first decade.
Regional AIA Design Award, Gulf States Region, Smith Law Office, Batesville, Mississippi. Barker and Ruth, Architects
AIA Design Award, Mid Atlantic Region, a chapel for Baptist Village, Waycross, Georgia. Stevens and Wilkinson, Architects
1989 Omercron Delta Kappa National Honor Society/Special induction as a faculty member in this student honor society.
1980 AIA Design Award, State of Mississippi, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Starkville, Mississippi. Barker and Ruth, Architects
AIA Design Award, State of Mississippi, a residence for Mr. and Mrs. Danny Drake, Batesville, Mississippi. Barker and Ruth Architects
STUDENT AWARDS Graduated with Honors, Clemson University.
1969 Named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.
1968 Awarded membership in Tau Sigma Delta, National Honor Society for Architecture and Allied Arts.
1968 Langdon Cheeves Scholar, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina. Scholarship based on academic achievement.
1965 — 1970 Athletic Scholarship(Partiai)fTrack, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.
December 8, 2024
